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Copyright © 2015 Schott Helicon Music Corporation, New York (BMI) 1

BEOWULF SYNOPSIS BY HANNAH LASH

Beowulf examines what it is to be a hero, and what the psychological burden is that a

hero must carry. It draws on the original Anglo-Saxon legend loosely, using the idea of a

hero at its center. But unlike the original Beowulf story, my story does not glorify its

hero. It paints a true-to-life portrait of him, replete with the emotional pain from which

he suffers.

Beowulf is a veteran of war. He was an army medic, now a civilian doctor living a fully

functional life, but he is haunted by one flashback. While at war, he was looking for

wounded soldiers in the aftermath of a mortar explosion. He found a child in the rubble,

a little girl. She was suffering from head injuries and in acute pain. Beowulf thought at

first that he could save her, trying to comfort her as she cried for her mother. While in

his arms, she began suffering from seizures. Deciding it was his only choice, Beowulf

gave her a large dose of morphine to allow her to die comfortably.

The opera opens with Beowulf at home readying himself for bed. Outside there is a

thunderstorm. He looks in the mirror, whispers a reassurance to himself that he is no

longer at war – that part of his life is over now. As he goes to bed a clap of thunder

triggers his flashback. We see the first part of it: the discovery of the child, and

Beowulf’s efforts to comfort her.

The second scene takes place in a nursing home, where Beowulf’s mother is recovering

from a stroke. She is confused and paranoid, convinced that one of the nurses is trying

to kill her by giving her the wrong medication. She becomes increasingly depressed,

refusing food and drink and her fears about the nurse intensify.

Beowulf sees she is dehydrated and asks the nurse to give her an IV. He steps out of her

room to speak to the nurse about her condition. When he returns, he finds her tugging

at her IV. The nurse was unable to find her vein at first, and the needle has bruised her

arm. Beowulf removes the IV and decides to take her away from the nursing facility to

care for her in his own home.

In the second act, first scene, Beowulf is at home and assures his mother that he will

take good care of her. She muses on the reversal of their relationship from what it had

been when Beowulf was a child, recalling that she used to promise him the same thing,


to always keep him safe. She remembers the lullaby she used to sing to him when he

was a child. They sing it together.

The second scene is in the hospital. Beowulf is performing head surgery on a child – a

little girl. He completes the surgery successfully, wrapping her head in gauze. The gauze

triggers his flashback. As his assistant wheels the child out of the operating room,

Beowulf reenters the scene in the mortar explosion once more; this time the flashback

picks up where it left off in the first scene. He tries to comfort the little girl in the mortar

explosion, promising to find her mother, wrapping her head with gauze.

The third scene shows Beowulf rushing home to his mother. She is in distress, convinced

that someone has been looking through the windows at her, trying to enter the house.

She believes it is the nurse from the home whom she suspected of trying to kill her.

Beowulf calms her, settling her on the couch and making her comfortable. She demands

that he check the windows and doors, to make sure no one is there.

As he approaches the door, someone knocks. He opens it and it is the nurse from the

home, bringing his mother’s watch, which she left behind. Beowulf thanks the nurse and

tells him he should get back to his car. It is raining and thunderstorms are expected

again that night. The nurse tells Beowulf that the other people in the nursing home do

not trust him anymore. Beowulf’s mother told them he was dangerous, and now

everyone is suspicious of him. Beowulf tells the nurse he is sorry, but cannot do

anything about it. His mother is his primary concern. He asks the nurse to leave.

As the nurse leaves, Beowulf returns to the living room, where his mother is stirring on

the couch. She asks him who was at the door. He tells her it was nothing, that he will

help her get ready for bed.

She asks for a Tylenol. She is in pain. He helps her change into her nightgown and to

brush her teeth. She looks into the mirror, whispering to herself that she is no longer at

her own home; that part of her life is over. Beowulf gives her a small amount of

morphine to help her sleep.

Finally, he settles her into her bed. Outside, the rain intensifies. With a clap of thunder,

Beowulf is back in the mortar explosion and his flashback resumes. The child in the

mortar explosion is suffering from pain and seizures. He cradles his mother, thinking she

is the child. He administers enough morphine to help her die painlessly, singing her to

sleep with the lullaby his mother used to sing to him when he was a child.


BEOWULF LIBRETTO

Act I Scene I

BEOWULF:

(Alone, in his room, readying himself for bed): I am here at home. I am here at home. I am not at the base. That’s over. (Pause for a few minutes in silence before the music begins)

(It is night. As the instrumental overture plays, we watch Beowulf ready himself for bed. He brushes his teeth, combs his hair, buttons his pajamas. He is neat, clean, organized. His bed is immaculately made, no wrinkles, white sheets. He goes to his medicine cabinet, takes a few tablets. He looks at himself for a few minutes in the mirror.) (He climbs into bed.) I am here at home. I am here at home. I am not at the base. That’s over. (A loud crash of thunder outside his window triggers a flashback to the war and to a traumatic experience he had as an army doctor. He gets up, reliving the experience.)

Mortar explosion…Hello! Who’s there? Who’s there? Anybody? Oh my god…Blood everywhere. Hold on. Stay with me. I’m a doctor—I can make you better. What is your name? Eve? Let me look at you. (Pause) We’ll find your mommy. Just don’t sleep, Eve. Stay with me. Hold still. Let me look. What songs do you know? Let’s sing together. All around the cobblers bench, the monkey chased the weasel; the monkey thought ‘twas all in sport, POP! goes the weasel! Hold still—I’m just going to wrap your head here. See this gauze? Isn’t it nice—like a spider web: so soft and strong and fine. All around the cobbler’s bench the monkey chased the weasel, the monkey thought ‘twas all in sport, pop! goes the weasel! Sing, Eve, sing with me. Your voice is so lovely and that song is such fun! Shh, shh, don’t cry. Not yet. Not yet. There will be plenty time for that after you heal. Shh. We’ll find your mommy. I will make sure you are safe. (He cradles his blankets. Another crash of thunder. He comes out of the flashback, letting his blankets go.) I am here at home. I am here at home. I am not at the base. That’s over. (Lights out)


Scene II

BEOWULF:

(At a nursing home. Beowulf enters his mother’s room. She is sitting in a chair. There is a bed right next to the chair.) Mother, how are you feeling? Have you walked around? Did a nurse walk with you around the halls?

MOTHER:

You are here finally! I’ve missed you. How long has it been since you were here?

BEOWULF:

Yesterday evening, Mother.

MOTHER:

Oh that’s right. How are you? There was thunder and lightening all night here. Did you sleep last night?

BEOWULF:

Tell me how you are feeling today, Mother.

MOTHER:

It feels as though I’ve been here for days and days. When can I go home again? I won’t be here for long. This isn’t it, is it, Beowulf?

BEOWULF:

Has a nurse been by in the last hour? Let me look at you. What’s this bruising on your arm? Did you fall? Bump yourself?

MOTHER:

The nurse hasn’t been here for a long time, I think…but what does an hour feel like here? It feels like a week. It feels as though I’ve been here for weeks and weeks. I don’t know when the last time was a nurse was here. That nurse—the man—he’s trying to kill me… he gives me the wrong pills. I’ve been feeling worse since he’s been giving me the pills.

BEOWULF:

Can you stand? I think you should walk around a little. Here, take my hand.


(Gives her his hand and helps her to her feet. She stands for a moment, loses her balance and sits down again abruptly and awkwardly.)

MOTHER:

When can I go home? I miss my own bed, and my pillow. These pillows are so small and hard. I miss filling the birdfeeder and watching the finches flock outside my window. I miss the soup I make on Sundays. I miss my kitchen clock. I miss my bookshelves with rows of dusty spines. I miss opening my curtains in the morning and walking with my bare feet on my own clean floors.

BEOWULF:

You’re dehydrated, Mother. (He pushes the call button on the side of her hospital bed. A nurse enters.)

NURSE:

Here you are, sweetheart; let’s take your blood pressure. Oh hello, Doctor. And time for your meds. (He approaches Mother with a blood pressure cuff and several bottles of pills.)

MOTHER:

I’m not going to take those pills. They’re not the right ones. Ever since you’ve been giving me those pills I’ve felt worse.

NURSE:

Come on, sweetheart. You’ve got to take your meds.

BEOWULF:

Has she fallen? She has bruising on her arm that is new since yesterday. It’s not normal for her to bruise like that.

NURSE:

No falls. (To Mother) Here, sweetheart. Here’s the pills.

MOTHER:

No! No! You’re trying to kill me! I know these are not the right pills—these are not the ones my son prescribed… you’re trying to kill me! (She refuses to take the pills)


BEOWULF:

She’s dehydrated. Let’s get her on an IV drip right away.

NURSE: Yes, Doctor. (Exits)

BEOWULF: Mother, what’s going on?

MOTHER:

He’s rough with me all the time when you’re not here. He’s a bad man, Beowulf. He likes to inflict pain on me. I know he’s trying to kill me. There are people like that. Just let me get back to my own home. I’ll be fine if I can just go home.

BEOWULF:

You know you aren’t well enough to live alone. (Beowulf’s pager goes off.) I’ll be right back. (Exit Beowulf. Nurse enters with an IV; seems to be making several unsuccessful attempts to the needle in. Mother struggles. After a couple of minutes, Beowulf enters; goes back to Mother’s bed. She is moaning, tugging at the IV.) What happened here? Missed the vein? Bruising, more and more bruising… (He removes the IV—this has to be a special moment, musically, dramatically, etc. This is the analog to the ripping out of Grendel’s arm.)

NURSE:

Doctor, I’m terribly sorry. It looked all right when I did it.

BEOWULF:

You have to stay and be sure. She is having trouble with bruising; when that is the case, you have to be careful.

NURSE:

I’m sorry doctor.


MOTHER:

He’s trying to kill me! Just get me home. I need to get out of here now! Please get me out of here now! (Lights fade as Beowulf assists his mother out of the room, gathering up her sweater and helping

her put on her shoes. The exit, leaving the nurse behind.)

Act II Scene I

BEOWULF:

(Sitting on a chair by his Mother’s bed. They are at his home.) I’ll take care of you. You’ll be fine here.

MOTHER:

That’s what I used to promise you when you were a child. I kept you safe, Beowulf. I promised you would be safe.

BEOWULF:

Now it is my turn to keep you safe. MOTHER:

Wash your hands, Beowulf—I used to tell you. Always wash your hands so that you don’t get sick. You could get sick—you could die, so wash your hands. And at night as soon as it got dark, I would draw the blinds and bolt the door. Your windows were never open at night—children are kidnapped at night because no one hears the man sneaking in the open window. Carried off, lost, missing… close your windows, Beowulf; I will lock them and pull your curtains tight together. Nothing will harm you. And I would sing you to sleep:

MOTHER AND BEOWULF:

Good night, my star, so bright you are twinkling in the west. The moon will rise and soon your eyes will close and you will rest. Good night, good night, Good night my dearest love.


Good night, my star So bright you are sparkling high above. (Lights out. Brief musical interlude. Significant moment because we are given a look into Beowulf’s relationship and history with his mother. She has always been overprotective. Beowulf’s PTSD has been given the chance to develop in part because of his absorption of his mother’s paranoia.)

Scene II

(Beowulf is at the hospital. He is performing a surgery on a small child. This is the scene when we feel most clearly the setup of the stage and the audience in the round like a surgical theatre. The operating table is exactly center stage. Two assistants (can be instrumentalists who are not playing during the scene) hand Beowulf instruments as he performs the surgery. This could be a percussion solo, or another instrumental solo.

BEOWULF:

Give me that gauze. We need a little more around her head, here. I’ll watch her for a few minutes. Go make sure a bed is ready for her in recovery. Let her mother know she’ll be all right. (Assistant gives Beowulf gauze, then leaves the room. Beowulf wraps the gauze around the child’s head; the gauze triggers a flashback; he is back in the mortar explosion at war taking care of the little girl Eve.) See this gauze? Isn’t it nice—like a spider web: soft and strong and fine. You’ll get better, Eve, you’ll be well again soon. (Pause) We’ll find your mommy. She’ll be here soon. There, there. Don’t cry, don’t cry. (He strokes the child’s face, saying “shh, shh” softly. Lights fade.)

Scene III (Beowulf comes through the door frame; he is returning home from the hospital. His mother is not on the couch. She is huddled on the floor.)

BEOWULF: Mother? Are you all right?

MOTHER:

Beowulf, I think there’s someone at the house… there are strange noises outside the living room window—there’s someone looking in the window. Beowulf, there’s someone going to break in the house. And the rain has started again. I hear thunder in the distance too.


BEOWULF:

There’s no one outside, Mother. It’s just the rain you hear.

MOTHER:

Someone has been watching me through the windows; I can’t reach the blinds to close them. It’s that nurse, Beowulf. He wants to kill me. He knows where I am and he wants to come here and kill me.

BEOWULF:

Come, Mother; let’s get you back in your chair. I will close the blinds, but there is no one looking in the windows. You are safe. (He helps her sit down, and goes to the edge of the stage to close the blinds—this can be indicated by a motion; we don’t need physical blinds. Perhaps simple window frames hanging from above.)

MOTHER:

Are the windows locked? You opened one earlier today because I said I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see if you locked it before you left. I’m too weak to move the latch myself.

BEOWULF:

No one is outside. All the windows are locked. The blinds are drawn. You are safe.

MOTHER:

Just make sure. I know he was here. He was outside these windows, I could see his face looking in. (Beowulf goes to the door frame. He looks out, then returns to his mother.) No one is out there. There is no need to be frightened. I’m here now.

MOTHER:

I’m tired, Beowulf. Help me get to the couch. I just want to sleep a little. (He helps her lie down on the couch and covers her with a light blanket. She sleeps. There is a knock at the door. Beowulf answers it. It is the nurse from the nursing home. He is carrying a watch.)


NURSE:

Your mother left this at the home. I thought I might as well bring it by.

BEOWULF:

Thank you. You’d better get back to your car. We’re having another thunderstorm.

NURSE:

Is that all you have to say?

BEOWULF:

What do you want me to say? What else should I have to say?

NURSE:

People at the home don’t trust me anymore. She told other residents I was rough with her—those rumors spread like wildfire after you took her away.

BEOWULF:

I’m sorry…but what can I do? My mother was unhappy. She’s confused, dying. I wanted her to be with me. Now please, my mother is sleeping. Please be on your way. (He withdraws from the door frame. The nurse pauses for a moment, watching him, then turns and exits.)

MOTHER:

(Roused a little from her sleep—partially sitting up) Was someone here just now? Is everything all right? Who was that?

BEOWULF:

It was nothing, Mother. Can you drink a little ginger ale?

MOTHER:

I just want some Tylenol. I’m tired. This room is getting smaller, Beowulf. It wasn’t so small when I got here. Can’t you move something out to make it less crowded? Just take that table away…put it in the hall. If I get up in the night I’m going to bump into that table. You’re going to have a fire in here it’s so crowded. Make sure you turn out the light so that if I bump that table in the night there won’t be a fire when the light falls onto the floor. I need to sleep. I sleep so much. I didn’t used to sleep so much.


BEOWULF:

Lie down, you’re dizzy. I’ll get you ready for bed. (Return of some musical material from the overture as Beowulf readies his mother for bed. He helps her brush her teeth. He slips on and buttons her pajamas, and hands her a mirror so that she can look at herself while he combs her hair. She looks at herself)

MOTHER:

I am here with my son. I am here with my son. I am not in my own house. It’s over. (Beowulf hands her some pills and a glass of water. She takes them, and then he eases her back down on the couch and covers her. Then he gives her a little vial.) What is this, Beowulf?

BEOWULF:

It is a small dose of morphine to help you sleep, Mother. (She drinks it and hands him the vial. He kisses her forehead, watches her as she falls asleep. He sits on the edge of the bed, holding her hand.) You used to sing to me to sleep when I was little. I loved your voice. (He watches her, not moving. We hear the rain and storm outside. Then there is a loud crash of thunder outside—he flashes back again.) No, no, Eve. You’re going to getting better. No, don’t—don’t! Oh my god… she won’t last—she’s in such pain…Eve, no—oh god, stay still! Quick, let me give you this…it will make the pain fade. Shh, shh… (He kneels next to the couch, touches his mother’s head. Another loud clap of thunder.)

MOTHER:

Who’s there? What happens next?

BEOWULF:

Eve, Eve, be still. I am with you. I will hold you. Shh, shh.

MOTHER: (Stirs slightly, moans in pain.) Can I leave now? This room is so small… I can’t breathe.


BEOWULF:

(He gets up and takes the vial from his medical bag) I have to help you. You won’t last the afternoon…you’re being tortured with this pain—Eve, Eve. No, no, don’t scream like that—it will only make it worse. Mommy’s not here. I’ll help you…I can make the pain go away. Morphine, here it is, quickly, take it...you can sleep, you’ll be calm, peaceful. There will be no more pain while you go. There is no choice. (He gives his mother more morphine, cradles her and sings.) Good night, my star, so bright you are twinkling in the west. The moon will rise and soon your eyes will close and you will rest. Good night, good night, Good night my dearest love. Good night, my star So bright you are sparkling high above. (He rocks her in his arms. Lights out.)

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